Page 44 of Shadow

I knew my sisters loved it here and had no desire to leave. Close to amenities but far enough away for solitude.

What I liked most was I could see someone coming for miles.

The screen door squeaked.

Turning, I watched as my sister Faith came to sit next to me.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

“Neither could I.”

“Zeke?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think people like us get happiness?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart.”

Faith said nothing more as she laid her head on my shoulder and we looked out over the horizon. I couldn’t get Joan’s request out of my head. It was there, like a record playing on repeat.

When Kansas gave me the thumb drive, I didn’t want to look at it, but I felt as if I had to. It just kept staring at me as I sat at the table looking at it. In the end, I borrowed Charity’s computer and went to my room to see what Kansas insisted I checked out. There were only three files on the thumb drive. Each marked by name.

Seeing Joan’s name, I opened her first and read the information Jinx had discovered. The man was diligent, I’d give him that. Everything I could ever need to find the bastard was right there in front of me.

Along with every sordid detail that sick fuck ever did, not only regarding Joan but to her siblings and mother, too. The man wasn’t fit to breathe air as far as I was concerned. Scouring the information, I found where Jinx located the clerical error that freed the son of a bitch from prison. A fucking rookie mistake, if you asked me, until I saw Jinx began investigating the clerk. That was when things got intriguing. Needing more information, I went to talk with Joan, only to find her sitting on the sidewalk as the police milled around.

I knew the fucker had found her. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I brought her home with me. Honestly, it wasn’t a tough decision. The need to protect her rode me hard, not to mention I could actually hear myself think when she was around. Was it selfish on my part to keep her close? Probably, but I didn’t give a fuck.

After I got her settled, I spent some time looking into the other matter.

The one I knew was sure to get my ass killed.

There were only six officers in the Diamondback M.C., not including the President. Of the six, only one was a former officer under Big Jim. The rest of the officers were just patched brothers who were on the run that day with Kansas, only to return home to find everyone dead. The only two in the vicinity at the time of the massacre were Monk and Jinx. Considering Jinx thought something fishy was up even back then, and then started investigating the matter on his own, said a lot about the man. From what I saw, Jinx had files going all the way back, starting a month after the massacre.

The man kept detailed records on everything.

I knew more than I should about every officer in the Diamondback M.C. All but two…Monk and Keys.

Though there was a file with their names on it, there was nothing in them. Not even their birth names. From what I knew about the Monk, he was hardheaded, stubborn, quick to anger and didn’t have a fucking problem getting in Kansas’ face. The man was a loose cannon and if Kansas wasn’t careful, the man would challenge Kansas for the President’s chair.

I believe Kansas knew that was a possibility and that’s why he handed this shit over to me. By doing so, Kansas kept everything objective. The only problem with that was every fucking member wanted my head on a spike, none more so than Monk.

What Kansas was asking me to do was suicide.

I knew it, and so did he, because the second I started asking questions, the club would know and nothing, not even Kansas, could stop them from coming for me.

If I did this, I would put my sisters in danger, and that was something I couldn’t risk.

I don’t know how long we sat there in silence when Faith muttered. “Zeke?”

“Yeah.”

“I snooped today.”

Chuckling, I whispered. “Yeah?”

“I saw something I shouldn’t have.”

---